Liverpool confirmed the signing of long term target Serbian international Milan Jovanovic in the summer yesterday, yet who is he and will he solve Liverpool’s striker problems?
28 yr old Milan Jovanovic operates mainly as a striker, yet has been known to play out on the left or as an attacking midfielder. A Serbian international, his goal record is extremely impressive for current club Belgium side Standard Liege.
Averaging around a goal every …
Liverpool are set to announce the signing of Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic from Standard Liege, according to the Times. Jovanovic is out of contract in the summer and is believed to have signed a pre-contract agreement with the Anfield club.
Jovanovic was reportedly being chased by AC Milan amongst others so this appears to be a good piece of business for Liverpool. Jovanovic is 28 years of age and he …
First you had Gianluca Vialli, then you had Gianfranco Zola; Italians coming to England were having a great time and in 2001 Blackburn Rovers decided to get in on the act, signing Corrado Grabbi from Ternana for a fee of £6.75 million, 2 goals in 30 matches were all he could muster during his time in England, that’s £3.38m per goal.
Somewhat of a journeyman player, he began his career in the Juventus youth side and on his debut for the first team against Lazio, he scored, one of his total two appearances in the 1994-1995 season. Despite a great start he failed to cement a place in the squad as was loaned from Juventus to Lucchese and then Chievo, despite a poor goal scoring record Modena took him off Juve’s hands in 1996 where he found his goal scoring prowess.
Ternana were quick to snap up Grabbi but he couldn’t replicate his Modena form and was loaned to Ravenna after only one season, 13 goals in 29 games for Ravenna was a decent return and he was duly welcomed back to Ternana with open arms.
Back at Ternana he was again a regular scorer, with 91 goals in 84 games and became idol for the local supporters, who still remember him as the best player to ever have played for Ternana.
This amazing form alerted the likes of AC Milan and Juventus, however it was the lure of Premier League football that swayed Grabbi and he joined Blackburn Rovers for £6.75 million. Injury and personal problems blighted his Rovers career, 2 goals later he was on his way back to Italy on loan with Messina. Failure to reignite his career upon return to England resulted in a permanent transfer to Ancona.
In an interview with an Italian TV Station, Grabbi stated that he was finding it hard to acclimatise himself to the British weather and game, and also said that he was finding it hard to fit in with the team. The team was accused of singling him out, and not being friendly to him, which also accounted for Blackburn’s slump in form.
In the same interview, Grabbi stated that the only person who he became friends with in this time was Tugay Kerimoğlu.
After 7 games with Ancona and a year out the game he signed with Genoa in the third tier of the Italian league system, scoring 9 goals in Genoa’s promotion campaign. After promotion Grabbi considered retirement after a number of injury concerns, but was persuaded to stay on by fellow players and the Genoa fans, but he was sold during the transfer window in 2006 to Arezzo. A half season with them and he moved for the final time in his career to Swiss second division side AC Bellinzona.
Chelsea have had a number of successful managers through the years, number one being Jose Mourinho, but before the Portuguese there was an Italian, a stylish Italian who brought a number of trophies to Stamford Bridge. His name is Gianluca Vialli, a legendary centre forward and accomplished manager; it can be argued he started the Chelsea revolution we see today, laying the foundations for Claudio Ranieri, Mourhino and Carlo …
Pierluigi Casiraghi carved out a very respectable career in Italy with Monza, Juventus and Lazio, then moved to England to play for Chelsea and all but disappeared off the face of the earth… or did he? What actually happened to the former Italian international?
Casiraghi started of his career in 1985 playing for local side Monza in Serie B and Serie C1, he helped them achieve promotion to Serie B, …
Cast your mind back almost two decades, the Cold War was ongoing, Margaret Thatcher was leader of a Conservative government in the UK and everyone was doing the Vogue, courtesy of Madonna. But there was something else about 1990 that will have you in a world of excitement and wonder; it was indeed the performances of Salvatore ‘Toto’ Schillaci for Italy at the 1990 World Cup. The tournament propelled …
He’s 17 years old, a winger/striker, Brazilian, plays regularly for Pele’s former club Santos, has scored fourteen goals in the past season and is being chased by Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Neymar is his name and it may well be the name on the lips of football commentators for many years to come.
Whether or not the player would actually move from Santos to …
Football is a funny old game and here are some choice words from the week gone by. Lets begin in Italy…
Your Just Annoying, Mario!
Juventus fans seem to have have a slight dislike towards Inter striker Mario Balotelli, “Se saltelli, muore Balotelli” or “If you jump, Balotelli dies.” I wouldn’t want to be Super Mario right now.
Quickly lambasted, “I am against any kind of insults,” added Juve boss Ciro Ferrara. However, …
This week we see the legend that is Ian Rush:
Take on a current Liverpool star Fernando Torres.
Skills: Although he his Liverpool’s all time leading goalscorer, you would be hard pressed to find many Liverpool supporters who would think Ian Rush was more skilful than Fernando Torres. Rush had fantastic anticipation, quick feet and lethal finishing but he was a predator, not a creative genius like his strike partner Kenny Dalglish. Torres on the other hand is known for his spectacular goals such as the fantastic volley against Blackburn Rovers at the end of the 2008/09 season, and the way he scored his first goal for the club by beautifully taking a goal against Chelsea. On that occasion he dropped his shoulder and eased past a defender before placing his shot perfectly into the far-corner. Opening round goes to ‘El Nino.’ RUSH 8, TORRES 10
Loyalty: Rush spent almost his entire career at the club, spending almost 15 years at Anfield. He did however have a single season spell at Juventus in 1987 before returning to Merseyside. The lure of European football was too much for Rush at the time but he quickly returned to Liverpool, homesick as he couldn’t fit into the Italian lifestyle. Torres on the other hand signed a contract extension in August 2009 keeping him at the club for a further 4 years. He may move away from Anfield if the club doesn’t win trophies or if Rafa Benitez is sacked, but that is only speculation. Time will tell how loyal he is to the club. RUSH 9, TORRES 9
Achievement: Rush achieved a staggering amount of honours while he was at the club. He won five league titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups and one European Cup. His individual honours included a PFA player of the year and a Football Writer’s Footballer of the Year award in 1984, a PFA young player of the year award in 1983 and the European Golden Boot in 1984 for scoring 32 league goals. Fernando Torres however has yet to win an honour at Anfield but he has won a European Championship at international level. Rush is the hands down winner in this category. RUSH 10, TORRES 7
Adoration: Both players are absolutely adored by the Kop. Rush scored a record of 25 goals in Merseyside derbies (including four goals in a 5-0 win in 1982) in a career that led him to break Roger Hunt’s all time goalscoring record for Liverpool, eventually finishing with 346 goals for the club. A lethal finisher in front of goal, he will remembered by the Kop as the greatest striker in the club’s history. Torres is also an idol on the Kop, nicknamed ‘El Nino,’ he has scored many crucial and spectacular goals for the club, including 24 league goals in his first season at the club overtaking Ruud van Nistelrooy to become the most prolific foreigner ever in a debut season in England. His second half strike against Sunderland on the 2nd of February 2008 started a run of 8 home League matches in which he scored 12 times, including a winner in his first Merseyside derby. It was a scoring run not seen at Anfield since Roger Hunt. Both adored to an equal degree: a draw. RUSH 10, TORRES 10
Summary in a clip: There is so many to choose for both Rush and Torres, but I decided on Rush’s four goals against Everton, and Torres’s goal against Blackburn in 2008:
A difficult choice but just because of the manner of the occasion, I’ll go for Rush. RUSH 10, TORRES 9.
Who is the Greatest?:
RUSH 47, TORRES 45: In my view Rush wins both because of the amount of goals he scored and titles he gained while he achieved his individual feats. Torres may in time surpass Rush in goals scored and perhaps even in terms of trophies if he remains fit and loyal to Liverpool, and perhaps in a decades time we will know for sure who is the greatest. Disagree? Put your case forward in the comments section below. Let’s hear your opinions!
This weeks transfer news begins and ends in the beautiful city of Milan. We learned earlier this week that Didier Drogba has advised Chelsea to sign Patrick Viera from Inter Milan during the transfer window. Presumably this is to cover while he, John Obi Mikel and Mikael Essien are away for the African Nations cup. Certainly Viera’s time at Inter seems to be coming to something of an ignominious end. Given a 4/10 …
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